I've got one in .470 NE with ejectors. I'm sure the .450 can do everything the .470 can do, as John Taylor himself pointed out. But let's face it, there is just something a bit more magical and uniquely "Africa" about the .470 nitro express. I even like the way it sounds when saying the words. My gun is a sweetheart. It shoots exactly to point of aim at 50 yards with the affordable Hornaday ammo, even though that isn't what it was regulated with.
I only have two complaints about my 470...1)the top lever has an inset engraved animal figurine that I can't identify....it looks like a sick goat with its head on the ground. Other than that the engraving and wood is beautiful at any price.
2) It is too light for a .470 NE and the recoil, out of the box, is vicious. So I had the stock trimmed and added a better recoil pad, and had a 12 ounce mercury recoil reducer installed into the butt stock. Not only did it tame recoil but it also improved balance. Its now challenging but pleasurable to shoot, and as I said, it shoots where its aimed. I would rather have this Sabatti than a Merkel or one of those French doubles that cost twice as much. If there's a better deal on a quality and beautiful double rifle in a nitro express caliber, I'd sure like to see it, and I've done a lot of looking. It should be remembered that I'm describing the deluxe safari model, which appears to be of completely different construction than the basic model, which I have never fired.
